Universal
by AngelQueen
Summary: Death is more universal than life. Tag for 'Ripple Effect.'


_Disclaimer: Stargate and all related characters are property of their respective owners. No infringement intended._

Author's Note: I loved _Ripple Effect_, plain and simple. Not only was it an episode featuring alternate realities - one of my favorite plotlines - but it also brought in the return of one of the most beloved characters of the entire Stargate series. Janet, this one's for you. You still live in our hearts, Doc, and we'll not forget you.

--

Alternate realities. Every time Sam Carter came into contact with one or heard about it after the fact, she ended up with an enormous headache. Hearing about what could have been - especially when it usually involved her alternate self being involved with Jack in some sort of romantic relationship - really unnerved her. It always caused a muscle just beneath her left eye to twitch, something that drove her absolutely crazy.

Of course, this time it wasn't much better. Finding herself face to face with people long dead like Martouf and Janet, working with nearly twenty different versions of herself, and even meeting alternate versions of people she barely knew like Elizabeth Weir and John Sheppard - she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know why those two were on an SG team off-world together, not to mention seeing his arm wrapped securely around her waist as they were escorted through the base - had collectively caused that one muscle to go into overdrive.

Even if the alternate Janet never did tell her who her alternate self had married and was, apparently, soon due to have a child with.

Her, a mom. Frankly, that idea alone scared the hell out of her more than facing the Ori and the System Lords combined.

And she was rambling in her own mind.

Sam sighed tiredly as she walked into her quarters. Normally, she would have gone home by now, but finishing up the report on the latest crisis had taken longer than she thought it would. It was nearly two in the morning and she was too exhausted to drive. She'd just catch a few winks here before she went back on duty at eight-thirty.

She threw off her fatigues, not even bothering to pick them up from the floor. She grabbed the oversize shirt and shorts that had been left at the foot of the bed and slipped them on. Rubbing her eyes tiredly, Sam moved to collapse on the bed, grateful to have a little bit of time to just stop thinking for a while, when she saw something sitting on the nearby desk.

Sam was tempted to just let it sit there until morning, she really was. She had barely slept in days and that bed was really looking good at the moment. But, with her luck, she'd lie down on it and wouldn't be able to sleep at all, her mind having found something to focus on. Shaking her head, she all but stormed over to the desk and picked up what she now saw was a piece of paper.

There were only a few words written on the sheet and her tired blue eyes flew over them. After a moment, she bit her lip and unbidden, tears filled those eyes.

-

Daniel Jackson was confused. He hated feeling confused. When he was a kid, feeling confused was often a prelude to getting made fun of for not knowing something the other kids took for granted. These days, it was a just a reminder of how a certain thief who was now lost in the Ori home galaxy made him feel. The woman drove him crazy, but he was drawn to her all the -

And he was getting off the subject.

Their alternate selves were not so different from his own team, and yet they'd been driven to come here and try to sentence the people of Atlantis to death to save their own world. Were there truly no ZPMs left in their reality? Surely there were a few. In this reality, they were several teams devoted to searching for more of them. Not that they were having a lot of luck, but still...

And then there was the whole matter of seeing Janet again, alive and well. And finding out just how she had managed to survive in her reality. It really hurt to think about it, actually. How close she came to death. How close their Janet came to life.

He shook his head and moved over to his desk. He was about to pick up his coffee cup, thinking to get another cup to get him through the night, when he noticed a slip of paper set beneath it. Daniel frowned. He never set his coffee cup on paper. He quickly moved the ceramic cup and picked up the paper, reading over its contents.

Daniel blinked slowly, then smiled tiredly and shook his head, chuckling.

-

It was comforting to enter into his meditations again. Ever since the teams from the alternate realities had begun to arrive at the SGC, there had been little time for it as Teal'c's duties had required him elsewhere. But now that Colonel Carter had discovered a way to send the alternate teams to their respective homes, there was once again time for him to immerse himself in this calming ritual.

The confrontation with the other team on the Prometheus had left him somewhat off-balance for a time. Though he knew and understood the reasons for their actions, he still found it unsettling that events in their reality had driven them to such lengths. Could this possibly be what lay in store for their reality? Would they not soon be facing the same choices, Teal'c wondered.

Although these questions still plagued his mind, he could not help but relax and allow his mind to slip into the meditations. Perhaps it was merely the familiarity of the routine that calmed him.

Or perhaps it was the note he had found earlier, the one that now lay among his most treasured possessions. He would keep this letter for all his days and honor the words of a great and noble friend who, for the briefest of times, had been restored to them.

-

_Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives. She lived, lived well, and died well. Be happy, my friends, even if she cannot be here to share in that happiness with you. She would want you to do nothing less, as would I._

_-J. Fraiser_


End file.
